Some Simple Facts about Water

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 16, 20 April 1905, Page 30

Some Simple Facts about Water

Bought as food, water is a tolerably expensive luxury, says Mr. H. J.. Holmes, in ' Pearson's Magazine' Let us begin with breakfast. Look at tnat loaf of bread. To all appearances it is solid tn>ugh. But it is not. When it came into the hands of the baker as wheat flour it contained water only to tne extent of 17 per cent. In working up the materials into dough, by kneading and other manipulation and in baking a great change take* place and tine quantity of water has more than doubled. The wheat flour loaf contains nearly 40 per cent, of water. Cuiiously enough, its value as a food is increased thereby. The percentage of water in the crust is about half Mat in the soft inside. 4 Cured Pork ' docs not contain a large proportion of water ; in fajct, wherever there is a good deal of fatty matter there is also a scarcity of moisture. So the man who enjoys his slice of breakfast bacon may <o:nfort himself wuh the reflection that he is getting iairly solid \alue for his money, because bacon contains only 22 per cent, of water. Fresh eggs, on the other h<nl, are composed of no less than 65 per cent, of water. The best dairy made butter, no matter how carefully prepared, contains a comparatively large percentage of water Out of 1,500 samplas of butter examined by well known authorities a small number contained o'.er 16 per cent, of water ; tise larger number containad between 11 and 13 per cent. Carelessly manufactured or adulterated "butter often contains much more water tihan is permissible by law and the breakfast table may include a supply of butte*r containing as much as 20 per cent, of water. It is only to be expected that milk, owing to its ori/gin, should \ary considerable in its composite n. Much depends on the health and surioundings of the animal yielding it. It is interesting to 1 now that morning milk as it comes from the cow is by no means as nourishing as the evening supply ; there is more water in the farmer. The daily quart of milk even in its purest state contains an a\ erase of 87 6 per cent, of water. The choicest fish contains the largest percentage of water. Thus turbot and sole are credited with 78 per cent.-; salmon, 75 per cent. ; while the commoner inhabitants of the deep blue sea are content with from 40 to 60 per cent., as in the case of the homely herring. •As cool as a cucumber ' is a household term. The coolness is easily explained. Cucumbers are almost entirely composed of water — that is 95 per cent., or o\er 7.4 ]er cent, more than is contained in milk, whi< h is itself a liquid. Lettuce must not be forgotten. Here is a further instance of how little substance may be in an apparent solid, for the cabbage lettuce holds 92 per cent, of water. It will be seen that most of the good tilings of life are largely composed of water ; but it is better for us that this) is so. Nature knows? more aboui/ our digestive powers than we know ourselves, and she has designed her products — fish, flesh, fowl, and fruit — with so cunning a h?nd that the Avater contained in each is essential. Food containing very little water in its <ompo<i(ion is not as a rule good to eat until a suitable ii'Te&s of cooking has rendered it safe by adding a further supply of waller to it and boiling, as is well known, is the process that renders our food most wholesome and easy of digestion.